Dr. Donn Feir

Professor

Economics

Contact:

Office: BEC 380 dfeir@uvic.ca 250-721-8533

Credentials:

PhD (UBC)

Area of expertise:

Indigenous economics, applied microeconometrics and economic history

Bio

Donn Feir is an applied labor economist and economic historian who has published on reconciliation, modern Indigenous labor market experiences, health and the impact of historic policies on Indigenous economies and people.

Donn is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research (NBER) and Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. Donn former worked at the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Donn received their PhD from the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia.

Interests

• indigenous economics
• labour economics
• gender and household economics
• economic history
• applied econometrics

Research projects

• The Long-Run Impact of Historical Treaty Making
• Access to Finance for Indigenous Nations
• Indigenous Outcomes in the Labour Market
• Environmental Racism in Canada

Courses

• ECON 203, Intermediate Microeconomics I
• ECON 313, Intermediate Microeconomics II
• ECON 423, Economics and Indigenous Peoples
• ECON 515, Labour Economics

Selected publications

• “American Indian Wealth in the Early 20th Century” (with Maggie Jones and Angela Redish) AEA Papers and Proceedings. (Forthcoming, May 2024).
• “Slaughter of the North American Bison and Reversal of Fortunes on the Great Plains.” (with Rob Gillezeau and Maggie Jones) Review of Economic Studies. (May 2023)  https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdad060
• “When Do Nations Tax? The Adoption of Property Tax Codes by First Nations in Canada'' (with Maggie Jones and David Scoones) Public Choice. (2023, p. 1-34) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-022-01039-4
• "Native Americans’ Experience of Chronic Distress in the USA" (with David G. Blanchflower) Journal of Population Economics (2023, Vol. 36, Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-022-00910-4
• “Indigenous Nations and the Development of the US Economy: Land, Resources, and Dispossession” (with Ann Carlos and Angela Redish) Journal of Economic History. (2022, Volume 82, No. 2,  p 516 - 555)